BILL NUMBER: ACR 40	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  55
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  JUNE 27, 2005
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  JUNE 23, 2005
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 21, 2005
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 21, 2005
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 7, 2005

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Lieber and Leno
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Arambula, Baca, Berg, Bermudez,
Blakeslee, Calderon, Canciamilla, Chan, Chavez, Chu, Cohn, Daucher,
De La Torre, Dymally, Evans, Frommer, Goldberg, Hancock, Jerome
Horton, Shirley Horton, Houston, Jones, Karnette, Klehs, Koretz,
Laird, Levine, Liu, Matthews, Mullin, Nava, Negrete McLeod, Nunez,
Parra, Richman, Ridley-Thomas, Ruskin, Saldana, Salinas, Spitzer,
Torrico, Umberg, Vargas, Wolk, and Yee)

                        MARCH 15, 2005

   Relative to the 85th Anniversary of the League of Women Voters.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 40, Lieber.  League of Women Voters' 85th Anniversary.
    This measure would recognize the origins and accomplishments of
the League of Women Voters, and would memorialize the 85th
anniversary of that organization.





   WHEREAS, In the year 1911, California became the sixth state to
give women the right to vote; and

   WHEREAS, In the year 1920, after decades of fighting for the right
to vote, women believed they had a responsibility to participate in
public debate, and to educate voters about the important issues of
the day; and

   WHEREAS, On February 14, 1920, at the final convention of the
National American Woman Suffrage Association in Chicago, the League
of Women Voters was born, in anticipation of the ratification of the
19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which would provide
a constitutional guarantee of a woman's right to vote; and

   WHEREAS, In the 1920's, the League of Women Voters secured passage
of the first federal maternal and infant health care program, the
Sheppard-Towner Act; and

   WHEREAS, In the 1930's, the League worked diligently on American
foreign policy and received an award for its efforts from the Woodrow
Wilson Foundation; and

   WHEREAS, In the 1960's and 1970's the League fought against
discrimination in education, employment, and housing and built
citizen support for economic opportunities; and

   WHEREAS, The League is a nonpartisan organization that has fought
for a wide-variety of issues, from free trade and the creation of the
United Nations to civil rights and compulsory public education; and

   WHEREAS, Other causes the League has championed include education
programs to counter attacks on civil liberties, nuclear arms control,
environmental regulation, a responsible state budgeting process, and
protection of the rights of voters; and

   WHEREAS, The League continues to battle for campaign finance
reform, United States support of emerging democracies, universal
healthcare, and reform of the electoral system; and

   WHEREAS, The League may best be known for its sponsorship of
political debates, and providing voters with a nonpartisan,
issue-oriented forum from which they may make informed decisions; and


   WHEREAS, In California, the League of Women Voters has continually
provided reliable nonpartisan information to voters through its
printed Pros & Cons on ballot measures, through its debates for
certain elected offices, through its forums held throughout the state
on critical topics such as state and local finance, growth and
infrastructure, and constitutional revision, and through its creation
of the internationally honored online election guide, Smart Voter,
promoting informed citizen participation at all levels of government;
and

   WHEREAS, Across the United States, the League has 900 local and
state Leagues, including 69 local Leagues and more than 11,000
members in California; and

   WHEREAS, The commitment of its members has transformed the League
of Women Voters from "the mighty political experiment" that began in
1920, when it was designed to help 20 million newly enfranchised
women carry out their voting responsibilities, to what it is today: a
unique, nonpartisan organization of men and women recognized as a
force in mentoring political leaders, shaping public policy, and
promoting informed citizen participation at all levels of government;
now, therefore, be it

   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the people of California hereby recognize
the important and unique contributions of the League of Women Voters
during its 85-year history as a nonpartisan organization dedicated to
increasing voter awareness and participation; and be it further

   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit sufficient
copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate
distribution.